Sheet feed means for sheets of at least a given length



Sept. 24', 1968 L. R. DAY 3,

SHEET FEED MEANS FOR SHEETS OF AT LEAST A GIVEN LENGTH Filed Dec. 10, 1965 INVENTOR LESLIE 2. DAY

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,402,927 SHEET FEED MEANS FOR SHEETS 0F AT LEAST A GIVEN LENGTH Leslie R. Day, Old Bridge, N.J., assignor to Litton Business Systems Inc., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 526,641 10 Claims. (Cl. 271-56) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sheet feed means for copying machines whereby a control .plate prevents sheets from being manually fed into the machine that are less than a given length. By means of the control plate, sheets less than the given length can not be inserted a sufficient distance into the throat of the machine to enter the bite of the first set of rollers and thereby will not be fed into the machine.

The present invention relates to sheet feed means for copying machines or the like wherein a sheet is manually introduced into the machine and then fed through the machine by rollers or the like in the copying or other processing operation.

Machines of the above type are usually provided with :a throat in the form of a transverse slot through which the sheet is manually fed relatively a short distance to en gage its leading edge with a first pair of feed rolls. The sheet is then advanced by the rolls until the leading edge is engaged by a second pair of feed rolls which continues the advance of the sheet. In this manner, the sheet may be advanced by a number of pairs of rolls or other feed means until it is finally ejected from the machine.

It is obvious that if a sheet is not long enough to extend from one feed means to the next, the advance of the sheet will be discontinued because the leading edge of the sheet will not reach said next feed means before the sheet is disengaged by the first. Introduction of such a short sheet into the machine is usually possible because the distance between the throat and the first feed means is usually less than the distance between any one and the next feed means. Therefore the short sheet may be inserted manually through the throat far enough to be engaged by the first feed means.

It will be apparent that if the feed of a sheet is discontinued, the sheet must be removed to prevent jamming before operation of the machine can be resumed, and the inner part of the machine Where the sheet is lodged is not readily accessible.

t is therefore the primary object of the invention to prevent introduction of a sheet of less than a given length into a machine having sheet feed means.

More specifically it is an object to prevent manual feed of a sheet of less than a given length into the machine a distance sufiicient to engage the machine feed means.

A yet more specific object is to provide feed preventing means as outlined above which permits easy retrieval of a sheet manually fed a part distant into the machine.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front of a machine having a sheet feed means and embodying a preferred form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of the front of the machine showing the feed rol-ls.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the front of the machine embodying a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the control plate.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the mechanism 3,402,927 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 "ice of a copying machine is housed in a casing 1. The sheet feed means is the only part of the mechanism to which the invention is related, and therefore only the sheet feed means comprising pairs of feed rolls 2, 3 and 4 (FIG. 3) is shown. Furthermore means for driving the feed means is unrelated to the invention and is not shown.

A throat in the form of a slot 5, through which a sheet 6 is manually fed extends transversely across the front of the casing. A feed plate 7 on which the sheet is placed, prior to insertion through slot 5, extends outwardly from the bottom edge of slot 5. To prevent skewing of the sheet when it is moved through slot 5, a guide rail 8 extends forwardly on plate 7 from the left end of slot 5 and is adapted to engage the left edge of sheet 6.

In accordance with the invention, a control plate 9 is upwardly spaced from feed plate 7 and extends across the feed plate immediately in front of throat 5. The spacing between plates 7 and 9 is only sufficient to permit easy passage of a sheet. The left end of control plate 9 is supported by a raised hinge 10 on guide rail -8, and its right end rests upon a spacing rail 11. A spring clip 12, secured at the right end of plate 9, engages a recess in rail 11 (FIG. 2) to yieldably hold the plate in normal lowered position. The plate therefore can be raised at its right end for a reason to appear. Plate 9 is preferably of a transparent plastic material.

A sheet, to be fed into the machine, is first placed on feed plate 7 with its left edge engaging guide rail -8 and its leading edge forwardly of control plate 9. Then the sheet is moved manually beneath control plate 9 until its leading edge enters throat 5 and is guided by a pair of guide plates 13 to engagement with the pair of feed rolls 2. Thereafter rolls 2 transport the sheet until its leading edge is engaged by rolls 3. From the rolls 3, the sheet is fed to rolls 4 and then is ejected from the machine.

It is to be noted that the path from the front edge of control plate 9, through throat 5 to rolls 2 is somewhat longer than the path from rolls 2 to rolls 3 which path is the longest between any and the next feed means. Therefore any sheet which can be fed manually beneath control plate 9 to engagement with rolls 2, will be long enough to extend between said rolls 2 and the next set of rolls 3 to insure continued feed of the sheet through the machine. However if a sheet is too short to extend between rolls 2 and 3, control plate 9 will prevent the sheet from being fed manually far enough to engage feed rolls 2. This will be apparent as the front edge of plate 9 will prevent further manual feed of the sheet when the trailing edge of the sheet has passed under the plate. The sheet therefore will not be fed into the machine by rolls 2 to be lodged between rolls 2 and 3 with the feed discontinued.

It will be noted that the path between throat 5 and rolls 2 is less than the path between rolls 2 and rolls 3, and but for control plate 5, a short sheet could be fed into the machine.

A short sheet fed beneath control plate 9 and not engaged with feed rolls 2 must be retrieved before operation of the machine can be continued. To accomplish this, plate 9 is lifted at its right end to permit easy re moval of the sheet. This operation is permitted by hinge 10 and yieldable retaining clip 12.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 wherein a control plate 9a is fixed in spaced relation to feed plate 7 by guide rail 8 and spacing rail 11. The operation of plate 9a is identical to that of plate 9 with respect to limiting the manual feed of a short sheet to prevent engagement with rollers 2. Retrieval of a short sheet however is accomplished in a different manner. Plate 9a is curved forwardly at its rear edge from throat 5 to provide .an opening 14. To retrieve a short sheet, the operator can insert a finger in opening 14 and move the sheet forwardly to bring its trailing edge forwardly of the front of plate 9a. The sheet can then be grasped and withdrawn from the machine.

Another modified form of the invention is shown in FIG. 5 wherein a control plate 9b is provided with a finger opening for withdrawing the sheet.

With the above in mind, it is within the scope of the invention to locate the entire rear edge of the plate forwardly of throat 5 to provide a finger opening, or to provide a finger opening of any desired shape in the plate.

It will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to any type of machine wherein a sheet is fed manually into a throat for engagement with a feed means, and in which machine it is undesirable to introduce a sheet under a given length. The invention therefore is to be restricted only as necessitated by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In .a machine of the character described:

sheet feed means including a first member and a second member spaced apart a given distance; a casing in which said feed means is housed, said casing having a throat through which a sheet may be fed manually toward said feed means; and

means for preventing a sheet of less length than said given distance, while permitting sheets of a length greater than or equal to said given distance to be fed manually through said throat a distance suflicient to engage said feed means.

2. The invention according to claim 1 including:

a feed plate extending outwardly from said throat and on which a sheet is placed prior to being fed manually through said throat; and

wherein said feed preventing means is located on said plate. 3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein: said feed preventing means comprises means for preventing manipulation of a sheet after said sheet has been fed manually through said throat a distance to bring its trailing edge a given distance from said throat. I

.4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein:

said feed preventing means includes means permitting retrieval of a sheet after said preventing means has performed its feed preventing function.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein:

said means permitting retrieval of a sheet includes means permitting adjustment of said feed preventing means from a normal operative position.

6. In a machine of the character described:

sheet feed means;

a casing in which said feed means is housed, said casing having a throat through which a sheet may be fed manually toward said feed means;

a feed plate extending outwardly from said throat and on which a sheet is placed prior to being fed manually through said throat;

a control plate on said feed plate extending the length of said throat and outwardly therefrom; and

spacing means at each end of said control plate to hold it upwardly from said feed plate a distance to permit a sheet on said feed plate to be fed manually under the front of said control plate and then inwardly into said throat.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein:

said spacing means at one end of said' control plate comprises a guide rail for a side edge of said sheet.

8. The invention according to claim 6 including:

hinge means at one end of said control plate to permit said plate to be swung upwardly at its other end.

9. The invention according to claim 6 wherein:

the rear edge of said control plate is spaced outwardly from said throat to provide a finger opening.

10. The invention according to claim 6 wherein:

said control plate is provided with a finger opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 40 ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner. 

